Various proposals have been made for a walking assistance device that is adapted to mount an actuator to the hip joint or knee joint of a person having a walking impediment due to injury, disease or weakened muscle resulting from aging, so that the power from the actuator can be used to assist the movement of the lower limb.
Conventionally, in such a walking assistance device, it was necessary to fasten corset-like support members onto the hip, thigh and lower leg portions to securely mount rotational actuators on a side of the hip joint and knee joint and transmit the drive torque from the rotational actuators to the lower limb.
Patent Publication 1: JPA No. 58-163364 (FIGS. 1-4)